Talk:Main Page
Use this page to discuss design and content changes to the main page. For general wiki discussion, please visit the Community Portal or Forums. ---- IRC hey everyone, I just wanted to say wow, this is great. But my question is " is there a Tavern yet? and if not. when will there be? " :If you do make some sort of chat, make sure it's nothing like the old one? >_> Perhaps deciding on an IRC channel somewhere on a server (where people can connect via Mibbit) might be a good idea... --Ghostwheel ::That's exactly what we're doing. It will have a tavern-like interface available here for those who want it, but it will also be connectible via IRC client. This process is halfway complete. Surgo 06:09, 14 August 2009 (UTC) ::: Lemme know here when it's done, as well as the server/channel? -- 15:41, 14 August 2009 (UTC) :::: Any update on this? -- 02:56, 18 August 2009 (UTC) ::::: Why not just use irc://irc.mibbit.net/dnd ?? I am an IRC Op there, and I just registered the channel (in case somebody else would register it) and will move the founder to Surgo if he agrees. --Havvy 08:08, 26 August 2009 (UTC) :::::: This sounds pretty good. Mibbit is amazing, one of my favorite online tools and probably the best web client out there. If we can get a little portal-like thing that we can link to from our sidebar, this would be ideal. Surgo 07:46, 26 August 2009 (UTC) ::::::: A direct link (without any skin) would be http://widget.mibbit.com/?server=irc.mibbit.net&channel=%23dnd&nick=DnD_User%5B%3F%3F53F%5D where the nick translate to DnD_User??? (where ? is a random alphanumerical character). If you know how to show the user's nick on the sidebar, use that instead. Actually, Surgo, if you want to talk about it in real time, I'm there now. --Havvy 08:09, 26 August 2009 (UTC) :::::::: So is anyone actually ever in any of the irc channels listed here or on the talk page? I popped into them, and no one was there at all... :-S ::::::::: We're in Iron City right now, we'll be moving over to the irc channel shortly. Surgo 14:08, September 4, 2009 (UTC) Compliment I just wanted to let the people who've been working so hard on this that it is shaping up really nice and really fast. It looks gorgeous, thanks to Surgo, TK, Alec and anyone else I might not know who's working behind the scenes. Thank you for giving us a new home. (Bunnie) Bunkie 16:21, 11 August 2009 (UTC) :Typing all that in is a waste of the prescious little energy i have left at this hour, so ill just say i think exactly the same as bunnie. Cookies for the people who worked so hard on it. --Hijax 18:54, 15 August 2009 (UTC) Nav pages I'd like to see less 3.5e Races and more User Races, moving the latter over past the former where appropriate. I think there's still some place for a format more like 3.5e Races, such as in Classes and Prestige Classes, but stuff like 3.5e Races needs to go -- for anyone wondering how people are going to find races by LA and other stuff, I'm going to be creating advanced search forms for that using the recently-installed Semantic Forms. Rith's uploading of these pages made me realize how drastic a change was needed because of how bad the old system was. Anyone have any thoughts on this? Surgo 16:57, 13 August 2009 (UTC) : Sounds good, once you have it working. Taking into account all of the errors, what's the ETA on having a good navigation system? Also, when are the broken nav page links getting fixed, or are they going to get replaced when everything else works? IGTN 21:42, September 19, 2009 (UTC) Why the Advanced Navigation is Taking So Long The problem, unfortunately, is Semantic Mediawiki is a laggy piece of crap when it comes to updating data. I'm in the process of changing properties and names around, adding interesting filters, etc. Unfortunately, it takes like a day for any change I make to actually propagate to everything that needs to know about it, so it takes a day for me to see if what I did actually works. That's what's taking so long here. If you're curious, the "advanced nav feature" will be . I'm in the process of adding filters for more finely-grained browsing, making sure all the semantic data we need is there, and making sure the category structure makes sense. Surgo 16:40, 23 August 2009 (UTC) :Yeah, want some help on those category structures Surgo? The ones in there now aren't so useful for searching for content. Things I would expect to be subcategories of other things aren't (because they're absent or just a regular category) and it makes searching with it very bizarre. How different from the nav pages did you want to make the structure anyway? - TarkisFlux 01:37, September 23, 2009 (UTC) ::If there's somewhere where X should be a subcategory of Y, please make it so. I went through and changed some things a couple weeks ago when I had time, but I ran out of time to do it. The category tree really needs to make sense to aid navigation. Surgo 01:46, September 23, 2009 (UTC) :::Surgo - Noticed that you've been playing with some of the nav pages now that your table row template is working. Did you want to move back towards existing nav pages to get around the site? Is it just for the time being while the BrowseData stuff is sorted? Or just a convenient place to test? Not that I have copious amounts of free time at present, but I'd like to know where to direct my nav efforts later on. - TarkisFlux 21:09, October 5, 2009 (UTC) ::::Old-style nav pages should at least be there for anyone who wants to use them, in addition to BrowseData stuff. At least, that's my opinion. Surgo 21:55, October 5, 2009 (UTC) Question I've found this wiki interesting, and I was planning on saving on a different set of Gestalt rules I have created in a new page. I typed up the whole article, only to find that I was caught in a loop - It kept asking me to verify by image that I wasn't a spammer, and it lost the title in the process. Anything I'm doing wrong? --Gralamin 04:13, 24 August 2009 (UTC) :That really shouldn't be happening. Now that you're logged in, I suggest you copy the text you made then go to make a new article with the same title. Then just paste the text back in and save. As you're now a registered user, it shouldn't ask you to verify. Surgo 04:16, 24 August 2009 (UTC) ::Still Happening. I'm not sure why. I'll try again and send screen shots of what I have. --Gralamin 04:17, 24 August 2009 (UTC) :::Why don't you hop on the chat (link on the main page)? We'll be able to help you better (in real time) from there. Surgo 04:18, 24 August 2009 (UTC) ::::Found Fix: If Article has the Author template, try removing it. Fixed it for me. --Gralamin 04:44, 24 August 2009 (UTC) Wizards Boards Stuff On Green_Dragon's wiki, there are a few items from the Wizards board. On their talk page, it shows "This spell was taken, by permission, from the Wizards Boards. Here is the thread related to it: http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=124820" (or This spell was taken, by permission, from the Wizards Boards. Here is the thread related to it: http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=124820) Are those items going to be moved over? I'd really like to see the Jelly spells over here so I can move the domain too. --Havvy 09:01, 29 August 2009 (UTC) :They can be moved, but it needs to be marked on the page that they are licensed under the GNU FDL version 1.2. Surgo 02:15, September 6, 2009 (UTC) Just saying There are some 4e creatures in the 3e homebrew section. Good job on building the wiki :). Deranged. 12:17, September 5, 2009 (UTC) :Thanks, and we know -- a lot of nav pages are screwed because of a bug that's being fixed in the upcoming week. Surgo 13:28, September 5, 2009 (UTC) ::Ok, just making sure you knew. By the way, if I recall correctly, this wiki was mainly created with more focus on quality and rating. I fully understand you have to build up something before you can start screening it, but what is the (to be implemented) policy on rating? Deranged. 10:33, September 7, 2009 (UTC) :::I suggest using the Netbook of Feats categories, plus five additional categories for stuff that was assumed or irrelevant in the NBoF (possible Completeness, Organization, Grammar/Spelling, Linkage, and Illustration). I found the NBoF categories very useful both when submitting feats and when selecting feats, but more coverage is needed here. --Ideasmith 21:30, September 8, 2009 (UTC) ::::NBoF is overall pretty horrible. Our rating system is going to be the Rating Committee idea. It's already set up, we just need to get rating. Surgo 22:26, September 8, 2009 (UTC) :::::If your new system tells me more about why the reviewers did/didn't like a rule, I definitely want to know more about it. Where can I learn more about what categories are used for this rating system? --Ideasmith 23:53, September 8, 2009 (UTC) ::::::All Rating Committee decisions are made in a forum that anyone can see, Forum:Rating Committee. Nothing is there yet because we haven't rated anything yet. Surgo 23:57, September 8, 2009 (UTC) :::::::Awesome. I'd very much like it if my ideas got rated, since I am simply a designer with little feeling for appropriate challenge ratings and such. The only question I have regarding the rating is what it'll be: LG (5/10 This needs a little work, perhaps if you did it more like so-and-so?), LN (5/10 This gets a five out of ten, because bla.) or LE (5/10 delete this because of a lack of quality)? Deranged. 17:18, September 9, 2009 (UTC) ::::::::The ratings work as follow: Bronze Star if x people on the RC like it, Silver Star if y like it, and Gold Star if z+ like it. I've forgotten the values of x, y, and z momentarily. We decided to work this way because of our dissatisfaction with numerical rating systems and how little they ended up meaning. Surgo 17:20, September 9, 2009 (UTC) :::::::::And specific comments can and will be given on the discussion pages? I mean, it's terrific to know if and how many people like my idea, but it could be handy to know how to make MORE people like my idea... ::::::::::Of course. The Rating Committee in no way, shape, or form makes talk pages (and the discussions therein) obsolete. Surgo 17:28, September 9, 2009 (UTC) Visible navigation pages There's currently no link to the navigation pages from the main page. If I want to find the 3.5e or 4e portals, I'm best off going through the "new pages" link on the side and breadcrumbing my way to what I want. There could be a very good reason for this (such as the navigation pages tending to be buggy), but I still thought I ought mention it due to its frustration-ness. Also, the main page should be protected for everyone but sysops, unless we want vandals to have fun. (Also, it gets rid of clunky edit buttons everywhere for some skins.) -- Armond 14:42, October 9, 2009 (UTC) :You don't have the little list on the left that I don't remember the proper name for with direct links to the 3.5e homebrew, 4e homebrew, srd, etc. on it? - TarkisFlux 15:51, October 9, 2009 (UTC) ::Apparently not. Let me mess with my skin a bit and see if that helps (though if I have to stay with monaco I will be very sad). -- Armond 17:38, October 9, 2009 (UTC) ::Yeah, it's a Monobook-specific problem. Blah. -- Armond 18:16, October 9, 2009 (UTC) :::I'll see if I can throw down something for the Monobook sidebar to make it make more sense. The wiki really is built around Monaco though. This is probably a good opportunity for moving the remaining stuff in Monaco.css that belongs in Common.css, over to Common.css Surgo 18:26, October 9, 2009 (UTC) Navigation Sidebar Not main page specific, but close enough. Can we get a link on the navigation side bar to Category:Help Wanted to make it easy to access those pages, or do people think that would be better placed elsewhere? - TarkisFlux 18:01, October 13, 2009 (UTC) :Sure, will do. Surgo 18:54, October 13, 2009 (UTC) Expore the Wiki the sidebar to the left is really starting to annoy me. Any way we can change this? -- Jota 23:49, November 30, 2009 (UTC) :That can be edited, moved down the list, or just plain old removed if we want/need to, since it's largely unused functionality at present anyway. What about it is annoying you Jota? - TarkisFlux 00:32, December 1, 2009 (UTC) ::Specificay? The ack of an particuar etter. -- Jota 01:28, December 1, 2009 (UTC) :::I have no idea what you are referring to, such a thing would have been obvious and dealt with long ago. :::Also, fixed. - TarkisFlux 01:35, December 1, 2009 (UTC) ::::Or rather it was fixed until Surgo removed it pending it actually working like we want it to. - TarkisFlux 03:10, December 1, 2009 (UTC) :::::I was referring to the fact that expore is not a word and it should have been explore. There is the slight possibility that this is happening just because I'm browsing with Safari, but I didn't really think that would affect something like this. -- Jota 03:52, December 1, 2009 (UTC) ::::::Sorry for being unclear, I was being sarcastic. I saw the issue after you pointed it out and fixed the spelling, and then Surgo removed it because we don't use the functionality yet. Safari had nothing to do with it. - TarkisFlux 04:46, December 1, 2009 (UTC) Ratings Hey, quick question. I know that the article ratings are based on points, two points from a excellent and one for a good favor, but how many points does it take to get a rating?--ThirdEmperor 19:15, December 18, 2009 (UTC) : 3 for bronze, 7 for silver, 11 for gold, and 15 for a featured article. - TarkisFlux 20:29, December 18, 2009 (UTC) Create new article Hey the have some kind of auto-formatter stuck on the create a new article, nothing harmful, but completely useless. just thought you'd like to know.--ThirdEmperor 08:02, February 11, 2010 (UTC) Reformat of the main page Ok, maybe it's just me and my inability to cope with change, and maybe it's the "skin" of the wiki I'm using (but I do have "admin override" checked in preferences), but the reformat looks really strange to me. Is it just me? I'm no graphic designer, but the big bright blue bars running the width of the page seem unaesthetic, if that's a word. Granted, I'm probably going to get used to whatever change is made within a week, I'm just wondering if others are feeling the same. --The Badger 05:01, April 20, 2010 (UTC) :Originally, in my test, I shot for brown bars, but the similarity to paleowiki was decidedly too much, so I swapped that out for a light-blue bars set-up. I prefer the lighter-blue bars. Surgo liked the darker ones. Didn't try gray due to blandness. The reformat was rather spontaneous. If there are more complaints, it's easy to change. --Ganteka Future 05:11, April 20, 2010 (UTC) ::I'm working on a wikipedia-esque main page in a sandbox which you can feel free to check out, and adopt if you want. It'll take me a while before I have it worth looking at, though. It's fine if you don't, I'd just like to see what it might look like. --The Badger 05:20, April 20, 2010 (UTC) :::I vote for Brown. The Blue is unseemly. I have no problem with bland. I mean, the picture is Black and White. How bland can you get. :p --Jay Freedman 06:41, April 20, 2010 (UTC) ::::Alright, so my initial mock up took way less time than anticipated. Everything went together pretty smoothly, and I think with a few more tweaks it could be very nice and welcoming. It's very brown, but I'd hardly call it bland. I'm running a 1680x1050 screen, which is by no means the biggest on the market, but way bigger than the smallest. If someone with a smaller screen could tell me how it looks on the talk page, that'd be nice. Thus, I submit attempt one for your comments. --The Badger 06:48, April 20, 2010 (UTC) :::::@Badger: Its too busy. I like Google style. Less is more. The colors are perfect however. The navigation bar at the top is not needed per say. We have the left bar for that. Oh, and can we "Un-Thumb" the main image. That border is strange. Nice work though. Its much better than our current blue. Just too busy for ol'Jay. ::::::Ok, so I think I've gotten all that damned "creativeness" out of my system. Here are Mock ups one, two, and three. The third one is basically the same as the second, with a setup for Featured Articles, should we decide to start having those. --The Badger 18:49, April 20, 2010 (UTC) :::::::We've decided to have them, but featured status is tied to an article's rating, and rating hasn't been happening with any regularity of late, and nothing got that high even when we were. So yeah... But when we do get rating and featured sorted, we have a setup that will auto shuffle them around, even preferring new-new ones without sacrificing visibility of old ones. - TarkisFlux 19:00, April 20, 2010 (UTC) ::::::::Has a light grey/silver bar with black writing been considered? I think it would be less offensive to the eyes than the current blue, and would also tie in to colors already used elsewhere (main logo, the images on the rating template, etc.). -- Dracomortis 18:53, May 2, 2010 (UTC) :::::::::Let it be done. I unprotected the main page so you can do it, if you have colors in mind. Surgo 20:09, May 2, 2010 (UTC) :::::::::: I think #97A6BF is a nice bluish gray, but if you want to screw around with the fine minutiae and get a more perfect color, this is a helpful hex code color picker. --The Badger 22:57, May 2, 2010 (UTC) :::::::::::Badger's proposed color looks really nice; in addition to being less glaring than the current blue, it also ties in fairly well with the dragon image's lighter grey. -- Dracomortis 19:00, May 9, 2010 (UTC) :::::::::::: : Badger Gray (The Current Gray) :::::::::::: : Wyvern Logo Gray :::::::::::: : Banner Logo Shadow :::::::::::: : Wing Logo Shadow :::::::::::: : Current Border Gray :::::::::::: : "How to style text" sidebar Gray :::::::::::: : "Articles on this wiki" Gray ::::::::::::If anyone cares, here are some color swatches to look at.--Ganteka Future 19:36, May 9, 2010 (UTC) :::::::::::::I knew it would happen. I've previewed a dozen different colors, and nothing looks better than that dark blue. Clearly I'm just bad with change. --The Badger 03:07, May 10, 2010 (UTC) ::::::::::::::I changed it to badger gray, but I really don't like it. And since I thought the dragon was a placeholder for favored articles (assuming we ever get that process sorted and set some as favored), I don't see any reason for sticking with colors that work with it. Gonna swap to the light blue that gan liked but surgo didn't for a while, see how that works out. - TarkisFlux 04:46, May 10, 2010 (UTC) Another D&D Wikia There is also another wiki about Dungeons & Dragons on Wikia called the DnD Wiki. ➳Quin 23:30, May 21, 2010 (UTC) :We know. They are (slowly) being merged into us. Surgo 23:56, May 21, 2010 (UTC) ::Not that I don't love what you've created here, but why are they merging into this wiki? This wiki should merge into their's. No offense, but they have the much better namespace for random folks googling about DnD (not your fault, they were here first). Sure this wiki is phenomenal compared to theirs, as well as any other homebrew resource I've come across, but I think the name is crucial. Have you contacted them to ask them if they mind you guys moving in? --The Badger 21:17, June 3, 2010 (UTC) ::: I think the point is for that to happen anyway. We kinda "absorb" that wiki, and merge their namespace into ours, sort of redirecting people who go there over to here so that we have that namespace. --Ghostwheel 21:20, June 3, 2010 (UTC) ::::In addition, they are merging to us because we have about 9 times as many articles. Surgo 21:23, June 3, 2010 (UTC)